Fluff
by May Seward
Summary: A piece of Time Lord technology comes through the rift. When Jack touches it, there are repercussions. Of the furry variety.
1. Part 1

'Jack, we've got rift activity.'

Ianto's voice, although becoming the first thing he hears in the morning more and more often, did little to rouse Captain Jack Harkness from the uncharacteristically good sleep he had been experiencing moments before. Jack groaned and opened his eyes, reaching out for his lover only to find empty air.

'Jack, you're really going to want to see this!' Ianto called again and this time, Jack responded, identifying Ianto's voice as coming through the Hub Comms as he pulled on a discarded shirt from the floor.

This early in the morning (around 4 am according to the watch he was donning as he made his way to the main area of the Torchwood Hub) the entire complex was deserted, with Gwen - the only other employee at Torchwood 3 - spending her nights in her own home with her husband. As a result, the collection of monitors that displayed readings from the rift that ran its way through the city of Cardiff were usually unmanned at this hour.

'What's it say?' Jack asked as he approached, spying his lover at the computers wearing the suit trousers and shirt he had worn the previous day (unfortunately) minus the waistcoat and tie.

'Readings are off the scale,' Ianto reported, typing furiously. Jack sidled up behind him and watched the screens over Ianto's shoulder, resting his chin in the crook of his neck. 'That's not just rift activity,' Jack murmured. 'That's a rift carnival. Time-space readings like we haven't seen since...' Suddenly, Jack was wide awake. 'Grab your coat,' he ordered, leaping into action, tearing down the metal stairs to the giant cog-wheel door and plucking his favourite WWII coat off the hat stand as he went.

Ianto was right behind him. 'Do you want me to call Gwen, sir?' he asked, suddenly businesslike.

'No time!' Jack called back, leaping the last few feet and sprinting down the corridor.

'This way!' Jack announced, running down a side street. 'Why can't I hear it?' he muttered to himself quietly.

'But - sir! What are we looking for?' Ianto demanded, seconds behind. 'Jack?'

'Come on!'

Ianto huffed but followed the captain down an alleyway.

'There's nothing here,' Ianto observed with a sigh.

'Oh, you beauty!' Jack gushed, skidding to a halt and staring at something lying on the wet concrete. Upon closer inspection, Ianto realised it was a type of silver helmet that was definitely not of human origin.

'What is it?' Ianto asked.

'Its...' Jack began, crouching to get a better look at the thing. 'I've seen one before, I know I have,' he grumbled. 'Look at those markings on the cranium, see?' he instructed, pointing. 'That's Gallifreyan. It's Time Lord technology.'

'Time Lord?' Ianto repeated, eyes growing wide. 'As in...?'

'Yep,' Jack confirmed. 'It looks broken,' he observed, reaching out to it. 'Those wires are supposed to connect to something.' He grinned up at Ianto like a child who had just been presented with exactly what he'd wanted for Christmas. 'Lets get it back to the Hub.' He went to pick up the device.

'Wait!' Ianto threw out a hand. 'Are you sure it's safe?'

'What? Of course!' Jack answered. 'Besides, it's me. What's the worst that can- AAAAHHH!'

Jack, who had picked up the device, screamed and collapsed on the ground, racked with electric shocks and convulsing in pain.

'Jack!' Ianto yelled and ran towards him, but then he blinked and the screaming stopped abruptly. 'NO!' It was Ianto's turn to scream as he fell to his knees beside Jack's body, all rationality fleeing his brain but- His hand fell on Jack's coat and there was nothing.

In shock, he grabbed it and searched, but there was nothing there. All that was left of Jack was a pile of clothes and... eyes?

A pair of bright blue cat eyes blinked at him from Jack's collar and a furry black head emerged, complete with pointed ears and pink nose.

For a moment, Ianto and the cat stared at each other in utter surprise. Then the cat said, 'Meow?'


	2. Part 2

When Gwen Cooper walked into the Torchwood Hub at eight am that morning, it was to find Ianto Jones (wearing yesterday's suit) sipping tea at his computer and talking to a black cat.

'Uh... Ianto?' she asked casually as the cog wheel door clanged shut behind her. 'What is that?'

Ianto's head shot up at the sound and he spied her staring at him wide eyed and eyebrows raised.

'It's a... Uh, it's a cat,' he replied stupidly.

'Yes, I can see it's a cat,' Gwen replied. 'I'm wondering why it is helping you do your work.'

Ianto glanced back at the cat to see it walking onto his keyboard and settling itself on the keys.

'No, Jack!' Ianto hissed and Gwen snorted. 'Don't sit there!' Ianto unceremoniously plucked the cat from its perch, despite its cry of protest, and placed it on the ground. 'You're supposed to be helping me!' He complained. The cat just meowed piteously and trotted happily over to Gwen, who cooed and crouched to meet it.

'My, aren't you a pretty boy?' she crooned, picking it up and holding it in her arms as she approached Ianto's desk. 'You named the cat "Jack"?' she asked with a smirk. 'What, is one not enough?'

'Actually, Jack chose his name,' he replied, supposing that technically it wasn't a lie.

'As if his ego couldn't get any bigger,' Gwen sighed. The cat hissed and squirmed out of her arms, turning and leaping back onto Ianto's desk.

'I don't think he likes being insulted,' Ianto pointed out, absentmindedly stroking the cat's ears.

'I was talking about the human Jack not the cat,' Gwen replied and Ianto shrugged. 'Where is he, anyway?' Ianto tilted his head in the cat's direction. 'No seriously,' Gwen said. 'Where is Jack?' Ianto pointed at the cat. The cat just rubbed his head affectionately against his hand. 'Ianto, please, be serious. Where is Captain Jack Harkness? You know, our boss?'

'Sir!' Ianto called. 'Where are you? Gwen wants to see you.'

The cat meowed and blinked it's blue eyes at Gwen.

There was a moment of dead silence, then Gwen's eyes began to widen again.

'No,' she said incredulously. 'No way.'

'I'm afraid so,' Ianto sighed, rubbing his forehead.

'How?' she asked. Ianto pointed to the examination table a way away where a strange looking helmet sat glinting under the fluorescent lights.

'He touched that,' Ianto explained. 'It came through the rift this morning.'

'When?' Gwen demanded, feeling a little insulted they had gone to get it without her.

'Around Four am.'

'Right, well,' Gwen said, nodding her head. 'We should probably think about trying to reverse it. Uh... what is it?'

Ianto sighed and shrugged his shoulders. 'I have no idea.'

'Its a Chameleon Arch,' a new voice announced over the Comms. Startled, Gwen and Ianto both looked around for the source. The cat - or, rather, Jack - sat up straight and began to purr. ''Ello, Torchwood,' the voice - a man's voice - and one they'd both heard before, said. 'Remember me? We saved the universe together. What you have there is a faulty Chameleon Arch and I'd really prefer if I could have it back.'

'Doctor!' Ianto called.

'Jack's Doctor?' Gwen repeated. The cog door rolled open.

'That's me,' a grinning man in a brown pinstripe suit and a trench coat announced, gazing around the place. 'And I tell you, for a top secret government facility dedicated to keeping Earth safe from aliens, you really need to do a better job at keeping us out.'

Jack leaped off Ianto's desk and ran towards the newcomer, meowing loudly and purring at the same time.

'Hello, Jack,' the Doctor greeted his old friend and picked him up. 'So you're a cat now, hmmm? Funny, I never thought you _are_ a cat person.' Jack the Cat rubbed his head against the Doctor's chin. 'Yes, I suppose you _are_ an everything person.'

'This- this Chameleon Arch thing,' Gwen stammered. 'Is it yours?'

'Jack said it was Time Lord technology,' Ianto added. 'Although he also said it was safe, so obviously he's not right all the time.'

'Yes, it is Time Lord technology,' the Doctor agreed. 'But no, it's not mine. I followed it here after I registered a TARDIS explosion. Found the wreckage, but the blast sent bits flying throughout time and space.' The Doctor whirled about (still holding Jack) until he spotted the object in question and ran down the stairs to what had been the medical area before Torchwood lost its medic. As he went, he pulled something out of his pocket. It looked like a sort of silver and blue probe and made an irritating buzzing noise.

'You, in the suit-' the Doctor called. 'How did you get it here?'

'Wrapped in Jack's clothes,' Ianto replied. 'Didn't really fancy being turned into a cat and Jack didn't need them at the time.'

'I see,' the Doctor said, circling the device and scanning it with his probe. 'Screwdriver!' The Doctor called to Gwen with a certain element of relish in his voice.

'I beg your pardon?' Gwen frowned.

'It's not a probe, it's a sonic screwdriver!'

'I wasn't calling it a probe-' Gwen protested.

'Yeah, you were,' the Doctor said.

'Okay, but not out loud,' Gwen admitted quietly.

'Don't touch it, Jack!' The Doctor yelled, swatting at one of the cat's black paws which looked like it was going to bat at the helmet.

Ianto rolled his eyes and got up from his desk. 'I'll get him,' he sighed and descended to stairs to pick up the cat. Jack snuggled happily into his arms and purred.

'Well that explains a lot,' the Doctor grinned.

'What?' Ianto asked, glancing nervously from the cuddly ball of fur in his arms to the Doctor who was staring triumphantly at his sonic screwdriver. At Ianto's question, he looked up at the scene before him, shook his head at the cat's behaviour and jumped into a very long rapid fire speech.

'This Chameleon Arch is so badly damaged, I'm surprised it's working. The TARDIS it had belonged to had been used by a group of renegades - space pirates, if you will - and they had set up the arch and the TARDIS to work together to determine the dominant species on each planet they landed on. It made it easier to blend in and steal things, apparently. Anyway, because the arch by itself didn't quite have the computing power to determine the dominant species of Earth when it arrived, one wrong calculation and instead of a dolphin, the next person to use it is turned into a cat. Probably a good thing, considering the circumstances. Anyway, the circuit was misfiring because of the blast and the genetic transformation matrix was surging with excess energy. The fact that Jack got turned into anything at all is testament to how badly damaged this arch is. He just happened to be the first living thing it touched. At least it was him and not anyone else. I'm not sure they would've survived.'

'Can you fix it?' Gwen asked.

'Can you turn him back?' Ianto questioned.

'Oh, probably,' the Doctor answered. 'Gwen Cooper!'

'Yeah?'

'Hello. Would you pass me that chocolate wrapper by your foot?' Gwen began ferreting around on the floor.

'Uh, what are you doing?' Ianto asked.

'I'm fixing it,' the Doctor answered, fiddling with the foil Gwen had just handed him.

'Right,' Ianto muttered.

'Ianto,' Gwen said softly. 'Hey, Ianto? How long have you been awake?'

'Uh, not sure,' Ianto admitted.

'How about you go home?' Gwen suggested. 'You look dead.'

'But-' Ianto began, but Gwen interrupted.

'Go,' she said. 'If we need you, we'll call. Hell, I don't think I'm needed either- this is beyond me. Go home. Get some sleep. Come back later.'

Ianto nodded and began to walk back up the stairs.

'Oh, and Ianto?' The Doctor asked when he was halfway up.

'Yes sir?'

'Take the cat, will you? He's going to be a nuisance.'

The cat hissed at the Doctor and flicked his tail.

'Yes sir,' Ianto agreed and left.


	3. Part 3

Ianto awoke that afternoon to a warm pressure on his chest. It was surprisingly pleasant and made him want to go back to sleep. It reminded him of lazy mornings when he'd wake up to Jack's head on his chest and a kiss hello. Absentmindedly, his hand lifted itself to card through his hair, but when he touched the warm thing, he found it was the wrong shape.

Ianto opened his eyes to see two blue cat eyes staring at him and memories of the morning came rushing back.

'Aren't you supposed to be nocturnal now?' Ianto asked. 'I mean, more so than usual. Have you been watching me the entire time I was asleep?' Jack blinked very slowly and then licked Ianto's nose. 'Eurgh! Get off me!' Ianto groaned and swatted the cat away. With the pressure gone, he sat up and looked around.

His bedroom was much the same as usual, save the odd nest-like depression in the duvet next to him that was covered in black cat fur. He'd have to get that out somehow, Ianto supposed. He ran a hand through his hair, effectively mussing it up. A purring sound came from the floor at the foot of his bed. Ianto sat up straighter and glared at Jack.

'You're loving this, aren't you?' he asked it. 'Every second,' he grumbled and shoved the covers off.

He was barely on his feet when he felt soft warm fur winding its way between his bare legs. Ianto stared down at the cat. Jack stopped moving in favour of staring back with pleading eyes. 'You want me to pick you up, don't you?'

'Meow.'

'Of course you do. Fine,' he said, plucking the cat off the floor. 'I need coffee.'

Jack immediately began to purr.

In the kitchen, Jack jumped onto the kitchen counter and licked his lips, watching Ianto's progress with the coffee machine expectantly.

'I'm not giving you coffee,' Ianto told him sternly. 'You might be Jack, but you're still a cat.'

'Meeerrooooooww...' Jack said. He widened his eyes at Ianto. Ianto ignored this, instead checking the microwave clock. It was just after one pm. His stomach growled.

'Wow, I haven't eaten since last nights chinese,' Ianto realised. 'Hmmm...' he opened the fridge and pulled out ingredients, checking the use-by dates carefully before placing them on the counter. He pulled the door of the dishwasher open, thankful to find it clean, and removed a frying pan. As he stirred the bacon in the pan, Jack padded over and sat, watching as wistfully as a cat can.

Ianto glanced at up at Jack while he was cooking and nearly kicked himself for being so stupidly selfish. Jack was watching the progress of the wooden spoon with an attentive fascination bordering on freakish, blue eyes wide and never leaving the spoon. Jack hadn't eaten since then, either, Ianto remembered.

'I'm sorry,' he apologised. He lifted a rasher of bacon out of the pan with his spoon and grabbed a plate from the cupboard above his head with the other hand. He plonked the bacon on the plate and placed the crockery on the floor by his feet. Jack leapt down and attacked the bacon, despite it's high temperature, purring so loudly he seemed liable to explode. Ianto chuckled at the sight.

'What are we going to do if the Doctor can't change you back?' Ianto wondered with a frown. Jack paused his attacking of the bacon to meow ponderously before returning his attention back to the more important matter.

Ianto finished cooking his bacon, scrambled two eggs and carried his plate and coffee to the kitchen table and began to eat. Jack soon joined him, sitting on the table and watching him eat.

'Get off the table,' Ianto grumbled, trying to shoo the cat off the dining table. The cat didn't budge. 'Jack, that's getting a bit creepy now,' Ianto said. Jack blinked at him. Ianto sighed. God, Jack was hard work in feline form.

He considered Gwen's reaction if he turned up to work now. She'd probably send him back home again. The thought almost made him laugh. She may be his best friend, but she could be seriously bossy when she was in charge.

Resigning himself to at least another hour of practical house-arrest, Ianto finished his breakfast and plopped onto the couch, flicking on the telly. He only got to enjoy the rare moment for a second before Jack had placed himself firmly on his lap and closed his eyes, purring softly. Ianto suspected his boss could have stayed there all day if he wasn't eventually turfed off. After nearly an hour of bad day-time telly and channel surfing, Ianto gave up. He pushed Jack's sleeping form off his legs onto the couch cushion beside him and made his way into the bathroom, locking the door before Jack could wind his way into the room with him.

Twenty minutes of normality under the hot shower would have been nice if Jack hadn't spent the entire time yowling on the other side of the door.

Ianto opened his front door. Jack ran out ahead of him

'Jack, careful!' Ianto called. 'You're not as visible now!'

Jack seemed to forget his current situation for a moment, he turned his head as he kept running towards Ianto's car, chattering away in a series of barking meows and yowls. Ianto was sure he was explaining something very obvious and charming to him, except Ianto couldn't understand it. Ianto remote unlocked his car.

As he opened the driver's side door, he heard an inhuman scream and a screech of brakes. He spun around to face the road. He hadn't been paying attention. A car had come around the corner too fast. A small black mass was now lying on the road, unmoving.

'Jack!' Ianto screamed and sprinted towards the cat. Ianto's breath hitched. Could Jack's resurrection ability still survive after his transformation? He knelt on the road, the offending vehicle now nowhere in sight.

Jack the Cat wasn't breathing. 'Come on,' Ianto whispered, stroking his fur. 'Come on...'

Silence.

Then...

A blue eye cracked open. Ianto laughed in relief. 'Oh, thank god!' Ianto cried, picking Jack up and sitting them both in his car. He threw his head back onto the headrest and sighed in relief. 'You know,' Ianto said. 'You bring a new meaning to the phrase, "nine lives".'


	4. Part 4

In Ianto's arms, Jack barely startled at the sound of the alarm that accompanied the opening of the cog door. Honestly, Ianto felt sorry for him all the same. If cat ears were as sensitive as he'd heard, the alarms would be far too loud for Jack.

'Ianto!' Gwen greeted. 'You're back!'

'Can't keep me away, ma'am,' Ianto replied, heading down into the medical bay to where the Doctor was working.

'Ah! Mr Jones!' The Doctor grinned (he always seemed to be doing that) and pushed off what looked like an oddly shaped welder's helmet.

'What are you doing?' Ianto asked. Jack squirmed so he put him down to go trotting off to join Gwen at the computers.

'Well, the circuits were burned out by transforming Jack so I have to fix them. Gwen is working on finding an appropriate source of energy-'

'Can't you just use your TARDIS?' Ianto asked. The Doctor shrugged.

'I would have, but this place is TARDIS-proof. Torchwood stole the technology off UNIT in the 70s and installed it in most of the Torchwood bases in the empire to stop me getting in. The Daleks disabled it remotely from inside Torchwood one because they also needed to be able to get in or out but I guess if Jack had been aware of the protocol he'd have forgotten about it now.'

'Well how do you power your TARDIS then, cause surely both power sources would be compatible?' Ianto asked.

'There is an exploding star in stasis in the engine. It's an infinite power source, if sometimes a little slow.'

'What about the rift energy?' Gwen asked. 'Cause Jack said that you sometimes stop here to refuel.'

'Well that's a secondary power source. It's mostly used to maintain the time lock around the Eye of Harmony and power the coffee machine but... Actually, that might work.' He pointed to Ianto. 'Where's your rift manipulator? Don't think I don't know you've got one! Ever since Jack told me about you all, I've been keeping a close eye on you.'

'It's there, sir,' Ianto pointed and the Doctor ran up the stairs. 'It doesn't work, though. Not very well, anyway.'

'That's cause you didn't have me!' the Doctor grinned and began fiddling with his "screwdriver". Jack leaped out of Ianto's arms and ran towards where the Doctor was working. He sat and watched with attentive eyes. 'Got it!' the Doctor exclaimed triumphantly and bounded back towards the Chameleon Arch in the medi bay, a thick wire lead trailing behind him.

The Doctor stepped back and examined his work. He reached out and picked up the helmet. Ianto tensed, waiting for the Time Lord's body to be seized by electric shocks, but the Doctor appeared uneffected.

'Is it ready?' Ianto asked. The Doctor looked up at him and nodded.

'Okay, Jacky-boy. Jump up here.' The cat landed gracefully on the examination table and flicked his tail under the Doctor's nose. When the cat settled, the Doctor gently placed the helmet over the cat's body.

'Are you sure this is going to work?' Gwen asked anxiously.

'Reasonably,' the Doctor shrugged. He fiddled with the helmet for a few seconds and then stepped back. 'Jack, stay there,' he ordered, then pointed to Ianto, who was still standing next to the rift manipulator. 'Ianto Jones, there is a control circuit over there, can you see it?'

Ianto looked. 'Yes, sir,' he replied and took it in his hands.

'Good. I've had to improvise a bit so the setup isn't that reliable. Is the light green?' Ianto nodded. 'Okay, then,' the Doctor said. Under the helmet, the cat's tail flicked nervously. 'That means the energy source is still stable. Press the button.'

Ianto shared a look with Gwen. She stared back at him. She looked impossibly young with her eyes wide like that. Silently, she nodded. Ianto took a deep breath and did as he was told.

A surge of energy pulsed down the lead with an electric crackle and hit the helmet. Jack the Cat yowled loudly, a sound that made Ianto panic. He reached to switch the thing off, but the Doctor threw out a hand.

'No!' he yelled. 'It's working!'

Ianto looked back at the creature underneath the helmet. Fur was receding over the cat's body as he grew, limbs lengthening and thickening, joints fusing and splitting, becoming human arms and legs. The cat's screaming howls changed voice, becoming more recognisable as Jack's usual american drawl. The helmet fit the head now, and as the cat's back lengthened, he curled in on himself, hands reaching up to grip his head as he screamed.

Then, as abruptly as it had started, it stopped.

Without thinking, Ianto dropped the control circuit and leaped down the stairs to his lover's side. Jack wasn't moving.

The Doctor pulled off the helmet and discarded it, rolling Jack's naked form onto his back.

'Is he going to be okay?' Gwen demanded, making her way down the stairs as fast as she could.

'Trauma like that on an effectively human body,' the Doctor said. 'I think it killed him. There's a reason only Time Lords have this type of technology.'

'Jack?' Ianto murmured.

Jack's eyes flew open. He sucked in a huge gasping breath and grinned.

'Shame,' he said. 'I was having fun.'

'Oh, you bastard,' Gwen giggled. 'We couldn't have you stay as a cat forever.'

Jack shrugged. 'I dunno. The view this morning was something I could get used to.'

Ianto glowered at him. 'You got my duvet covered in cat fur.'

Jack winked and sat up. 'I'll make it up to you,' he promised. 'Doctor!' he exclaimed, turning to the Time Lord who had watched the whole affair with a quizzical smile. 'If I had known all it took was faulty Time Lord technology and a species transformation to get you to come and say hi, I would've tried it ages ago.'

'Oh, you know me, captain,' the Doctor shrugged, but his grin gave him away. 'I'm not really a cat person. Even if they are my friends. Human suits you.'

In the corner of his eye, Ianto saw Gwen make a face like she was about to disagree. He laughed, and Jack twirled around to catch Gwen in the process of rearranging her face into a more acceptable expression.

'What?' Jack demanded. Gwen gave an undignified snorting laugh and shook her head.

'I think she disagrees,' Ianto pointed out mildly. Jack stood up and faced her properly, smoothing out his non-existent collar.

'What are you talking about?' he asked. 'I'm gorgeous.'

'Yeah, okay,' Gwen conceded. 'Just put some pants on.' She handed Jack's clothes, which had been piled in a discarded heap onto the floor, back to him and turned to take her previous position. As she passed Ianto, she muttered, 'He was a cute cat, though.'

'Yeah,' Ianto agreed with a suppressed chuckle. 'He was.'

The End


End file.
